Hey everyone, I wanted to share my recent experience setting up a low-power server for my home automation setup. After some research and experimentation, I found a great combination of hardware that not only consumes minimal power but also runs smoothly for my needs.
I started with the Fujitsu D3643-H Mainboard, which supports Coffee Lake-Refresh processors. Pairing it with an Intel Pentium Gold 5420T CPU, I aimed for energy efficiency without compromising too much on performance. For storage, I went with a 256GB SSD for the operating system and a 3TB WD-RED SATA HDD for data storage. This setup ensures fast access to frequently used files while keeping data backups secure.
Power management was a key focus. I opted for the PicoPSU 90W with an external adapter, which is both compact and efficient. To keep everything cool, I added a Dynatron K5 Topblow CPU fan and a Noctua NF-A8 PWM housing fan. These components ensure that the server stays within a safe temperature range even during extended use.
I chose Ubuntu 19.04 for its stability and compatibility with my hardware. Using sudo powertop --auto-tune and hd-idle, I optimized power settings and disk idle times to further reduce energy consumption. Running a small instance of openHAB on this server has been a breeze, and I’m even planning to expand it to include a media server and NAS in the future.
For those looking to minimize power usage without sacrificing functionality, I highly recommend considering this hardware combination. It’s been running smoothly for me, and I’m excited to see how it performs as I add more services to it.